I think I've asked before, but what software do you use for the models? I think you said Photoshop for compositing the backgrounds and such, but I mean the ships.

I varies a lot, on which software I use, depending on the scene I'm doing. For this shot I used:

Vue Infinite to render the planet, star with lens flare, and star field as a backdrop.
Hexagon to box-model the AHL.
Carrara Pro to finalize the AHL's polymesh and bake textures.
Paint Shop Pro to add more paint/decals to the AHL.
modo to add lights and effects for the AHL, and then render the AHL using the Vue render as the backdrop.
CamaraBag to filter the modo render using SLR lens settings.

Interesting. I hadn't heard of Hexagon or Cararra before. From what I found in some lazy web research, it looks like they're particularly suited for organic models, and that the more mechanical designs you used them for just come along as a bonus. I see the same company publishes Poser, so that makes sense.

I seem to remember that the very few Droyne ships (and other items) that have appeared have an organic look. Your modeling tools might be better than most for Droyne ships and gadgets, if you ever have reason to make such models.

Interesting. I hadn't heard of Hexagon or Cararra before. From what I found in some lazy web research, it looks like they're particularly suited for organic models, and that the more mechanical designs you used them for just come along as a bonus. I see the same company publishes Poser, so that makes sense.

I seem to remember that the very few Droyne ships (and other items) that have appeared have an organic look. Your modeling tools might be better than most for Droyne ships and gadgets, if you ever have reason to make such models.

Carrara is much better at mechanic modeling than organic modeling. Hexagon can do both very well with no problem (and way better than Carrara). Eovia bought Hexagon because its Carrara modeler was an '80s tool still. Carrara was a great renderer 15 years ago, but its modeling features were lacking. A decade ago, DAZ3D bought Hexagon and Carrara to make them more friendly with their own DAZ Studio (to compete against Poser). Poser and Studio are still competing to this day. Their rendering has improved over the years. But their subject matter still screams POSER/DAZ3D model! I still use an old version of Poser on occasion. But normally don't have people in my rendered scenes, unless I am experimenting like here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10y9Y0sWQV8 or if I need to render a pre-gen image for a Traveller charsheet.

The AHL is just a box model. If I were to hit the smooth button on it, it would instantly become an organic model. The style that Mark Hirst uses for his ship modeling.

ADDED:
I started modeling a Free Trader, from The Traveller Book hardcover page 64. Trying out different modeling techniques before I decide which app to use for it.

I've mostly modeled things with Blender, which is a polygon modeler with a quirky user interface. It's by far the dominant free modeler, which means that it's likely to remain under active development for a long time, rather than disappearing into the land of orphan software. It also has some pretty cool animation facilities that I haven't dabbled with.

I didn't want to pay the big bucks for 3D Studio Max or Maya, which are the dominant products in the paid domain of modelers that do animation. Autocad is also too deadly expensive, but would be great if I had a professional reason to own it.

The only other modeler I've tried was Rhino, way back when it was beta. It was really easy to use, but even with the beta tester discount the release version was more than I could justify spending.

Hexagon and Carrara were free in magazines like 3D World and 3D Artist. I think DAZ Studio is free. I've tried Blender and others for modeling. Too slow and cumbersome. I much prefer modelers like Silo3D and Hexagon that are, right away, intuitive and focus on just modeling objects quickly without user interference (UI).

15 years ago, 3D modeling hobbyists were a thing. Hundreds of new posts a day on forums, and hundreds of images uploaded to galleries. But software jumped in price by +$1,000, or went to subscription fee models where you pay every year or six months to use an app. Hobbyists left the hobby in droves when they couldn't afford the software they were no longer even the customer base for.

All those 3D sites have become cyber ghost towns pretty much. Mostly just adbot click-bait sites now. And career people that use 3DS and Maya don't post in forums because of NDAs. I heard that Lightwave has been dying on the vine. I tried it once. Too slow to model stuff quickly in. modo sort of came from that app. I had high hopes for modo 10 years ago. I put lots of money into it (buying each upgrade) before it too priced itself out of hobbyists hands. I never could figure out how its modeler worked. So I only used it for its rendering, which was better than everyone else's for the price at the time. I even did CAD stuff back in the day. The price of CAD software has gone up too by $1,000 since I last bought one. Vue Infinite has shot up in price, too.

High price for little new features added with each release helped people decide if they should continue updating their 3D software or not. 3D-Coat is one of the last current apps that has not gone overboard with its pricing. And is still easy and quick to use. I use it for painting my models. It does far more stuff. Mostly, it is for creating game assets quickly that can be used in 3DS and Maya pipelines. Something that modo tried to do before it became a full-on movie production app of its own like 3DS and Maya. But I use 3D-Coat for just exporting painted models into my simple scenes for rendering.

The next thing I want to model is a vacc-suit. Maybe even rig it to make it pose-able in Poser, for rendering in Vue. I'll have to look around first for some vacc-suit ideas that a Traveller might use. The trick is not having the Poser figure look like a Poser figure in a rendered scene. I can't stand Poser art.

Amazing work! Great to see a smaller ship next to the AHL, gives a good sense of scale!

I can understand how the AHL became a favourite for many, the detailed deck plans were a great tool, and the ship itself came with a bit of everything, opening up for a wide variety of games. To me and other newer players, I suspect the Ghalalk will fill that space, thanks to the Element cruiser box.